How Can I Choose?
by TheHunter747
Summary: Seeking revenge on Private for a trivial argument, Kowalski accidentally turns Private into an otter. While waiting for a cure, Private stays in Marlene's habitat, but soon develops feelings for her. WARNING: This story will contain Prilene.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this fic.(Unfortunately)

**How Can I Choose?**

"Geek!"

"Baby!"

It was back and forth between the two penguins as usual. Ever since Private had become a fully-fledged adult penguin, losing the last of his baby feathers, he and Kowalski hadn't been able to see eye-to-eye over anything, and argued constantly. It was giving Skipper and Rico a headache.

Jumping between the two, Rico regurgitated a chainsaw, while Skipper dragged Private away, sitting him down, and trying to find the right words to express his anger. In the end, he couldn't, so he settled for slapping Private in the face.(This was his way of expressing dissatisfaction.)

Rico, however, was having more success calming Kowalski down. Granted, that was with the help of a chainsaw, but he was still calming Kowalski down slightly.

"Alright, you two. What started it this time? One at a time, remember. Kowalski?"

"Private insulted me, saying that he could come up with better plans easily, before stealing my options clipboard, and insulting me again!"

"Hm. Private, what's your story?"

"I only asked K'walski if I could try coming up with the plan for our next mission, and then he yelled at me and threw his stupid clipboard at me! So we argued! There, happy now?"

Angry, Skipper grabbed both penguins and bashed their heads and beaks toghether, before sending Private out for a walk-that usually calmed him down-and confining Kowalski to his lab for as long as it took before he was able to calm down. Muttering darkly, Private stormed off in a temper, deciding to visit Marlene- she was usually able to cheer him up.

Kowalski went into his lab, deciding to invent something that would get revenge on Private for him. Grabbing his equipment, Kowalski set to work. Outside, the other two smiled unknowingly-inventing something was the easiest way for Kowalski to calm down.

Arriving at Marlene's habitat, Private knocked once on the wall of the otter's cave, waiting for the familiar 'Come in!', before advancing into the cave any further.

"Hey, Private."

Noticing the anger in his eyes, Marlene sighed, knowing full well what was happening between Private and Kowalski.

"Did you and Kowalski have another argument, Private?"

Sighing, Private let out some of his anger by kicking a pebble. It ricocheted of the wall and nearly hit Marlene in the face. Laughing slightly, Marlene picked up the pebble, revealing it to be a rubber ball- one that was kind of dirty, after being used so much.

"Careful. Otherwise you'll have my head off."

"Yeah, sorry. It's just that, y'know, I just want them to think of me as useful. I'm sick of being the baby of the team. I'm an adult penguin now, and I just want Kowalski to treat me like one."

Meanwhile, Kowalski had finished his masterpiece, and added a little bit of Private's DNA sample to it-one of the boy's feathers. Switching the machine on, Kowalski revelled in his success, even though he had no idea what it would do to Private yet- he only knew that it altered DNA somehow. Leaving the machine, he asked if the others would take him to see Private, so that he could 'apologise' for his actions.

Over in Marlene's habitat, Private was still talking to her, when he felt sick without warning. Lurching to his feet, he stumbled over to the water to look at his face. What he saw shocked him though: his beak was receding, his feathers were being replaced by tufts of chocolate-brown fur, and his tail was becoming longer!

Following Private out into her habitat, Marlene was surprised to see a tall, familiar-looking otter standing by her pool.

"Who are you, and why are you in my habitat?"

Shocked out of his reverie, Private turned round, and gulped slightly when he saw how angry Marlene looked.

"Erm, sorry, Marlene, but I'm Private. Don't know any more than you do about this, though."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the Penguins(sob.), Private, Marlene, or any other characters within.

**How Can I Choose?**

The penguins were looking at Private, trying to think of a way of reversing the effects of Kowalski's machine. Of course, when they had first arrived, Kowalski had laughed so much that he fell over backwards, and was only just beginning to get over his fit of laughter. Private threatening to throw him the length of the zoo had helped, too. Kowalski knew without thinking that Private was being serious, just by looking at the expression on his face.

"Now, Private-he,he- I should be able to, ahem, reverse the effects of the machine, turning you back into a penguin. I just need to put a sample of your DNA into the machine, and..." Here Kowalski petered off, horror spreading across his face.

"And? And what, K'walski?! No offence to Marlene, of course, but I'd rather spend my life as a penguin. It feels more natural to me."

A sudden explosion rocked the entire zoo, and bits of smouldering metal started raining down from above. The group moved inside Marlene's cave, and Kowalski continued.

"I was going to say that I just remembered that I left the machine on when I came here, but that's now rather self-evident. It must have overheated and exploded."

"So you mean now I'm stuck like this forever! You jerk! Can't you ever do anything right? Can't you even build another one?!"

Grabbing his clipboard, Kowalski started muttering to himself, before finally underlining whatever it was he had written, before shouting his usual "Eureka!", as he always did when something went right.

"Private, you're absolutely right!"

Private just looked at him oddly, a mixture of contempt and confusion clearly evident on his face.

"Right about what, Kowalski?"

Surprisingly, it had been Marlene that spoke first, having remained quiet for most of the conversation. Once she asked, Skipper and Rico threw in their two cents worth, and eventually Private asked as well.

"I meant that he was right about being able to build another machine. However, all the notes I took while making the original one would probably have burned up, so I'll have to start from scratch. It'll take at least a week, maybe ten days?"

Marlene, quick off the bat as usual, was the first to notice the strangeness of what Kowalski had said, and as usual, asked the question first.

"How come you managed to build one in under three hours, then?"

"Well, I merely adapted some of my earlier inventions to help suit my purpose. So I'll need to build those first. Hopefully, though, my notes on those won't have been burnt, and I'll be able to rebuild them quickly. After that, it's just a case of finding out which parts should go where."

Sighing, Private waved his paw, to signal to the others that he understood, before heading outside to try and swim around a bit, and relax. There were only really two things in the whole world which relaxed him: talking to Marlene, and swimming.

Back in the cave, Marlene sighed sadly, before turning to address the others.

"Okay, Skipper. Let's talk about living arrangements for Private."

"What do you mean, Marlene?"

Rico started babbling a little, and, guessing at what he was trying to say, Marlene nodded her head in agreement.

"That's right, Rico. Now that Private is an otter, he'll have to stay in my habitat until Kowalski has the machine ready. Right?"

Seeing the sense in her words, the three penguins found themselves agreeing.

"Right then. I'll agree to that, on the condition that Private respects any and all boundaries I lay down. Deal?"

Once again, the penguins agreed unanimously.

"Alright. Furthermore, Private is exempt from training until the machine is fixed, unless he particularly wants to help out. That should give him some time to relax, which I think we can all agree that he needs now more than ever. Do we have a deal, Skipper?"

Kowalski and Rico agreed instantly- Kowalski was happy for some peace and quiet, and Rico was happy that his headache would go away now- but Skipper was wrestling with the desicion. Finally deciding it was worth it for some peace and quiet- which, all of them thought, would be a nice change of pace- and the fact that Private would still be able to partake in training if he wanted, Skipper agreed, making the vote unanimous again.

"Alright. Kowalski, you get back to the lab, and get to work on that machine. Skipper, Rico, try and get Kowalski the parts he needs for the machine. Sound like a plan?"

"It does sound like a plan, Marlene. Move out, men. We have a very important mission to accomplish."

The penguins left, and Marlene decided to try and get an afternoon nap. She would try and talk to Private later that evening. Maybe by dinner-time he would be feeling more relaxed...


	3. By the light of the moon

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this fic, they are the sole property of Dreamworks/Nickelodeon, and I haven't had much luck getting them to cut me a deal. Yet.

A/N: Thank you so much to all the reviewers I have had for this story. Before I begin, I'd just like to say that I'm opening up a vote. Should Private-when the time comes, obviously- choose to stay an otter, or not? The choice is yours to make. I'll go with the majority vote, and polls will be open for the next few chapters. Now, on with the story!

How Can I Choose?

"Aaaah. Man, what time is it? I must have slept for ages."

Marlene had only just woken up, and was surprised to discover that it was pitch-black outside. Wondering why Private hadn't woken her up for dinner, she went outside to see where he was, but looking around, she couldn't see him.

"Up here, Marlene."

Recognizing his voice, Marlene quickly clambered up the rocks that made up her cave, only to find him lying there gazing up at the moon.

"Why didn't you wake me up for dinner, Private?"

"You seemed so peaceful while you were asleep, and I didn't want to disturb you. I saved you something to eat though, cause I knew you'd be hungry." He indicated a small pile of food, which Marlene knew was most of what she normally got anyway.

"Weren't you hungry? Seems to me you hardly ate anything."

"No, I wasn't that hungry. Too busy thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Private just went back to gazing at the moon.

"Kinda beautiful, huh?"

"Like a window into the soul of the universe."

Marlene was genuinely shocked by that- she had never once had Private down as a poet. She realized that she barely knew him, even though they were best friends. Noticing the look of astonishment on her face, Private chuckled slightly.

"Don't be so shocked, Marlene. I turn into quite a poet when I'm inspired by something."

Sitting down next to him, Marlene looked up at the moon as well, thinking to herself that this was the calmest she had seen Private in a long time. He looked just like he used to: unfocused, and not worried by anything. She liked this version of him, and silently prayed that he would be able to stay like this for a while.

"Marlene?"

"Huh? Sorry, just, y'know, thinking. What's wrong?"

"Nothing really. It's just... what are we going to do about this? Alice is bound to notice sooner or later that there's one otter too many, and one penguin too few. How do we deal with that?"

"Hadn't really thought of that. We can go visit Skipper in the morning, and talk to him about it. He might be able to come up with a plan."

"Okay. Erm, I think I'll stay out here for a while longer. It seems to calm me down, looking at the moon. Heh. Guess that's three things I know about now that calm me down. I don't mind if you wanna get some rest soon. The food's almost gone, though."

Looking at the pile of food, Marlene realized that it was nearly completely gone. She was amazed: she had never known that she could eat so much food subconciously before.

"Okay. Well, I'm going inside now. Help yourself to what's left of the food. You must be starving, after all. See you in the morning."

"See you later, Marlene. Have a good sleep."

A/N: Chapter 3 is up and running! Thanks to all who have reviewed this work so far, you have been my driving force, and I'm so glad that you all like it. Sorry that the updating is going kind of slowly, but school is a really big writer's block. I'm dipping into my lunch hour just to bring you this story, so I'm even more glad you enjoy it, as it makes it all worthwhile in the end. Chapter 4 will be up soon, so just sit tight, and I'll bring you more of the same goodness as before!


	4. Day 1

A/N: Before I begin, thank you to all the people who have been reviewing this story. So far, the vote is still nil-nil, but in this chapter, I might manage to change your mind. Sorry if I'm not updating as fast as I was, but with my exams only a few weeks away, I'm pulling out all the stops to pass them well, so I might have to put my stories on hold for a while. Don't worry, they will be updated. Just not as soon anymore.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters in this story(sadly...).

How Can I Choose?

The morning sun was slowly filtering in through Marlene's cave, and her nose began to twitch slightly as she awoke from the first proper sleep she had managed to get in weeks. After all, Kowalski and Private had constantly been fighting, even at night. Yawning and stretching, she looked over at where Private had said he would be sleeping. Private wasn't there, but there was a pile of food, and a small rose lying next to it. Washing her fur quickly, Marlene had a quick breakfast, before heading outside to see where Private was.

"Oh, hey Marlene. You're awake at last."

She needn't have worried- Private was fine, swimming around and making himself quite at home. As was apparent by the fact that he was throwing one of the rubber balls she owned up into the air then catching it. Unfortunately, he missed one catch while he was talking to her, and the ball splashed down into the water, sending a shower of icy water cascading over Marlene.

"Why you little... I mean, how dare you... Argh!"

Picking up the ball, Marlene aimed for Private, and threw it as hard as she could.

Diving under the water and dodging the ball easily, Private grinned deviously, swimming to the top of the water before soaking Marlene with water that he flicked at her with his new tail.

"Hey, what do you know. This thing is good for something, after all!"

Now looking like a drowned rat, Marlene snarled playfully, before jumping into the water next to Private, soaking him. Spluttering slightly-some of the water had gone in his mouth- Private looked over at Marlene with something akin to playfulness in his eyes. Marlene was starting to feel lightheaded , but not in a bad way. In fact, she couldn't honestly remember ever having had so much fun before. Smiling at Private in the same devious way, Marlene did a quick barrel roll, before swimming away quickly, yelling over her shoulder "Catch me if you can, Private!" Smirking, Private gave chase, and the two of them frolicked in the water, playfully splashing one another.

Meanwhile, in the penguin exhibit, Skipper had been watching the two of them, while Rico helped Kowalski with one of his inventions that was needed for the 'DNA changer' machine.

"Cheese and crackers!"

Jumping down into the penguin's 'commando base', Skipper gathered the other two together, explaining to them what he had been seeing in as few words as possible.

"Marlene and Private are getting too...friendly. We- that is, you, me, and Rico, Kowalski- are going to remind him where his loyalty lies. With us!"

"How are we going to do that, though, Skipper?"

"Simple, men. We are going to take Private on so many missions that he won't be able to fool around constantly."

Rico started babbling wildly at this, sounded as though he was trying to point out the obvious.

"Uh...Kowalski?"

"Rico says, Skipper, and I agree, that Marlene already set out rules about him going on missions with us. I believe the terms were that he only had to go on missions if he wanted to."

"Well, that was only the rule while Marlene is nearby. It doesn't hold true if Private's on his own, surely?"

"Actually, Skipper, it does. Nowhere in the rule was Marlene mentioned. The rule only said that if Private didn't want to go on a mission, he didn't have to."

"Well, Private probably doesn't even know about that rule anyway. So me and Rico will run him ragged fetching things for you to recreate that DNA changer doohickey of your's, Kowalski, while you work on making it. Agreed?"

The last statement had not been a question. Rico babbled slightly, while looking slightly downtrodden and guilty. Kowalski seemed to feel the same way.

"Agreed, Skipper." Kowalski said, more out of duty than anything else. "But, just for the record, no matter how much I dislike Private for what he's done, always teasing me and making me feel bad, I still just don't feel right letting you do this to him. He deserves some freedom, too."


	5. A choice to make

A/N: Hello again everyone! New chapter's done, and I'm still busy as ever. I'm doing my best to get through my exams and pass with flying colours, so that I can kick back and add lots more chapters to all my stories afterwards. Sorry if all the chapters have been so short, but hopefully I'll be able to make them longer. Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed, you've been a big help- and a right pain in the ass, some of you who have PM'd me just to flame this story! I put a warning in the summary that it contains Prilene, and if you don't like that sort of thing, why did you read it? Anyway, rant over. On with the story...

DISCLAIMER: ...Or not. Forgot about this for a second. I don't own any of the characters, do not intend copyright infringement, blah, blah, blah. Now, finally, on with the story...

How Can I Choose?

"Private!"

Jolted out of his slight daze by the sound of Skipper's voice, Private sat up, stretched, and asked what was wrong.

"What's wrong, is that ever since you became an otter, you've done nothing to help us! Kowalski needs a part for his machine, and you're going to help us get that part. Now come on!"

"Oh, ah, today might not work for me, actually, Skipper. You see, I promised Marlene that I'd help her with her spring cleaning, and I forgot that she'd asked me to get something to clean her cave with. I was going to go see if Maurice had anything I could borrow that would be useful."

"You don't have time for trivial little games, Private! You're a penguin commando, for crying out loud! Now get your rear in gear and hustle, soldier!"

Meanwhile, the commotion had disturbed Marlene while she was cleaning- a very dangerous time to disturb her, as it happened. Stomping out of her cave, she yelled at the three of them to keep it down, before realizing how odd it was for the two penguins to be there.

"Guys? What are you doing here, Skipper?"

Before Skipper could get a word in edgeways, however, Private had answered Marlene's question honestly, not knowing anything about the conversation the other four had had the day he was turned into an otter.

"Uh, huh. Y'know, Skipper, I seem to recall a certain rule we agreed on. Before I tell you it again, let me ask Private a question." Turning to Private, who was thoroughly confused by the whole thing, Marlene simply asked, "Do you want to go on the mission, Private?"

"Well, no offence, Skipper, but to be honest, I'd rather spend the day with Marlene. It's a lot more fun hanging around with her, really."

"There you have it Skipper. I'm afraid, since Private doesn't want to go on the mission, he doesn't have to, per our agreement."

"You win this round, Marlene. But just try and remember, Private. Remember where your loyalty lies."

Having said this, Skipper turned and headed out of the habitat to fetch the part Kowalski needed with Rico. Once they were out of earshot of Marlene's habitat, though, Skipper turned to Rico.

"Blast! This is going to be trickier than I thought it would. There has to be some way to get the two of them away from each other, though."

Rico just nodded sadly, agreeing with Skipper because he was the team leader, not because Rico himself wanted to, and babbling to himself under his breath.

Private, meanwhile, was heading over to the lemur habitat to try and find Maurice. Jumping up onto the large rock in the centre of the habitat where Maurice usually was, he saw Julien having another wrestling match to get Mort away from his feet.

"No! Not de feet! De king's feet are sacred, and must not be touched! De sky spirits told me so. Now get off of me!"

Having so proclaimed, the king kicked out and flung the tiny mouse lemur off his feet, sailing through the air to hit off the bamboo wall of the habitat, bounce off the lemur's bounce house, and land in Private's slightly, Mort just pointed to Julien's feet and said, "I was over there, and now I'm over here!"

Rolling his eyes and putting Mort down on the ground gently, Private went over to Julien and asked where Maurice was.

"Why, Marlene, are you to be wanting to see Maurice, when your king, which is me, by de way, is standing right here? Can you not feel de awesomeness that is me?"

Remembering that the lemurs-and, for that matter, most of the animals in the zoo- had not been told about Private's 'predicament', he just sighed, and tried to explain to the obnoxious lemur king that he wasn't Marlene, he was Private.

"Well, of course you are not dat silly birdie, Marlene. You are an otter, aren't you?"

"Silly birdie?! Excuse me, Julien, but I am not a 'silly birdie'!"

Meanwhile, Maurice had wandered outside, and greeted Private- although he, too, made the mistake of calling Private by Marlene's name instead. Realizing that Maurice would be able to understand him better than the stuck-up lemur king could, Private began explaining what had happened. Once he was done, Maurice just raised an eyebrow in response, before deciding what to say.

"So... you and Kowalski were arguing again?"

Grinning sheepishly, Private scratched the back of his head, replying in the affirmative.

"Right. So, uh, I heard you and Julien talking. Why did you want to see me?"

"Well, originally, I was only coming here to get something to help Marlene clean her cave with. But, ahh, I, um, ran into Skipper on the way here, and he sort of, well, got mad at me. Said I was letting him down. Well, he didn't exactly say that to my face, but that was the general idea. I was wondering if you had any advice?"

Pondering Private's conundrum for a while, Maurice couldn't work out why Skipper had said that to him.

"Um, Private?"

"Yeah?"

"Why would Skipper have said that to you? You've always been a big help to the team before, haven't you?"

"Well, I think it's because I've been spending so much time with Marlene. I've spent more time with her lately than with the team."

With that bit of information, Maurice was able to think about the subject a lot easier. Coming up with a few ideas, he decided to grill Private for as much information as possible.

"Okay, Private. Do you enjoy spending time with your teammates?"

"Um, why, Maurice?"

"I think if I get the information I need, I'll figure out the answer to your problem. So? What's your answer?"

"Well, yes, of course I like spending time with them. Even Kowalski, I suppose. He infuriates me, but at the same time, he's part of my life, just as much as Marlene, or Skipper, or Rico, or you lemurs."

"Interesting. Next question. Do you like spending time with Marlene?"

"Well, yes, obviously. She's my best friend, isn't she?"

"Yes, I suppose she is, at that. Do you enjoy your time with Marlene more or less than your time with your teammates? Be honest, I won't judge you."

"Well, honestly? I enjoy being with Marlene a lot more than being with the others. I don't know why, I just do, is all."

Smiling slightly at Private's answer, Maurice thought to himself "I just need one more question to crack this puzzle."

Outwardly, though, he asked the final question. "Private, do you ever wish that you and Marlene could be more than friends? What you say stays between us, remember."

"More than friends? Wait... Are you asking if I want Marlene to be my girlfriend?!"

"Yes, Private, I am. And remember, be completely honest. I won't breath a word of it to anyone."

"Honestly? Well, if you want me to be honest, then... yes. I do love Marlene. Heart and soul."

Smiling, Maurice was happy for Private at first, before realizing what it might mean.

"Private... you realize that, if you truly love Marlene, then that's what's causing these problems between you and your teammates, don't you?"

"You mean...?"

"Exactly. If you choose Marlene, you lose your brothers. If you choose your brothers, you lose Marlene. You can't be both a soldier and a boyfriend. Marlene doesn't need somebody who's never there for her, she needs somebody who will always be there when she needs him. You have a choice, Private. And it will change your life forever."

Sighing sadly, Maurice gave Private the two options he had to choose between.

"The love of your life, or... your family."


	6. Blowhole Strikes Back

A/N: All you people are fabulous! I've also had so many people PM'ing me their votes. My inbox is overflowing! The results are in, but which way did they slide? You'll find out later. For now, it's on with the story. So, day 7, is it? Well, Private has now spent a whole week with Marlene- quite an extended first date, I know! In this chapter, bonds are tested, and Blowhole strikes back- again with the army of lobsters? What is it with him and lobsters? Oh, well, never mind. Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: Fine, fine. I don't own any of these characters, and do not intend copyright theft, or anything pertaining to it, blah, blah, blah. You should already know this disclaimer.

**How Can I Choose?**

It had been an entire week now since Kowalski had turned Private into an otter, and one of the two was having a very relaxing time. Kowalski had discovered- much to their delight- that some of the original machine was still usable, and so it was now ready. Skipper and Rico had gone into Alice's office and changed the zoo records, which now said that Private was on a temporary transfer to another zoo, and the otter-Private was an otter from the Hobokan zoo. Alice, looking for any way to make her job easier, had just accepted this as fact. Private had thought it funny-and Marlene agreed(another thing they had in common, Private had discovered; they both found the same things funny, with few exceptions)- that Skipper had needed a list of instructions on how to work the computer.

Private, on the other hand, wasn't having such a great time. He was still wrestling with his inner demons, trying to choose between Marlene and his family, or trying to come up with a way to combine both of them. The closest he could think of was having Marlene join the team, but Skipper would never let that happen- imagine, a girl; and an otter; on his team. What was he, a penguin or a chicken? So he had a conundrum, and he couldn't tell anyone. Maurice knew, but had said that he couldn't help Private- Private had to choose for himself.

The sun dawned on a beautiful Sunday morning- the zoo was closed, and Private hadn't got anything planned, so he was going to see if Marlene wanted to go on a picnic. Waking up, he yawned widely, before washing his face and walking over to Marlene's bed to see if she was awake or not. She wasn't there. What was there, though, was a piece of paper with a picture of a dolphin on it."Blowhole?" Private wondered to himself. "No, it couldn't be. Could it?"

Deciding to find out if Skipper knew anything about the mysterious piece of paper, Private ran over to the penguin habitat as fast as he could, and burst through the fish-bowl entrance. Kowalski, who had been tightening a bolt on his machine, straightened up and turned round to face Private.

"Ah, Private. I was just going to get you. The machine's ready now and-"

"Never mind that Kowalski. Where's Skipper?"

Skipper's head poked out from behind the T.V.

"Right here, compadre. What's the hurry?"

Private dashed over to Skipper, and shoved the piece of paper into his flippers. Skipper scrutinised the picture, before handing it back to Private.

"That's very nice, but the artwork's just a little off centre. Very good attempt, though."

"What? No! This was in Marlene's habitat when I woke up, and Marlene wasn't!"

"Wasn't what, Private?"

"Wasn't there, wasn't here, wasn't anywhere to be found! And you know that's Blowhole's calling card, Skipper."

At that moment, an image of Blowhole appeared on the penguin's TV, calling out in that patronising and annoying voice his traditional greeting-a long, dragged-out 'penguins' and an evil laugh. Skipper turned to the TV, and nearly threw a nearby spanner at Blowhole's face.

"Stop with the hijacking our TV already, Blowhole! And out of curiosity, I'll ask. Why are you on our TV again?"

Another evil laugh ensued, before the answer was given.

"Oh, Skipper. Don't play coy with me. I know that your team's weakness is Private, and I know what Private's weakness is."

"You fiend! You really did cut off the peanut butter winkie supply lines!"

Blowhole fell over, before picking himself up, muttering darkly to himself.

"Oh darn it! I knew I had forgotten something in this plan. But that doesn't matter, for I know how much Private cares for a certain _female_ friend. Unfortunately, she's been playing you all for folls. I speak, of course, of Otter-1!" Another evil laugh, then he continued. "You probably don't know who that is Skipper. But from what I can tell, Kowalski knows. Why not ask him?"

Turning to Kowalski, Skipper demanded the identity of Otter-1. Blowhole and Rico both slapped their foreheads-neither one believed Skipper could actually have been so dumb.

"Well, Skipper... Now,ah, don't take this the wrong way, but...I think Blowhole is referring to Marlene."

Three things happened when Kowalski said this. The first was that Blowhole clapped his fins together and congratulated Kowalski. The second was that Skipper threw the spanner he was still holding at the TV in rage, and the third thing to happen was that Private fainted.

Some hours later, Private awoke, and noticed two things. Rico and Kowalski were discussing something without including Skipper in the conversation, or "briefing" as Skipper would put it. The second thing he noticed was that Skipper was tied to the periscope that they had rigged up in their habitat, snarling, or at least, as close to snarling as a penguin can get.

Standing up and walking over-no longer trying to waddle like a penguin-to where Kowalski and Rico were sitting, Private announced that he was fine now, and would like to know what they were talking about, and why Skipper was tied to a periscope.

Kowalski looked nervous, but relented, saying that Private wouldn't like what he heard.

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A/N: Well, it's been a long time in arriving, but this chapter's finally done. Hope I haven't got rusty- I haven't done much writing lately. I did most of this before my exams, but now that they are in the past, I decided it was time to continue the story. And my other stories, too. But this is the one I'm working on now. Interestingly enough, in this chapter, Skipper actually went art critic style. Could that be a piece of his mysterious past? Maybe. And maybe, just maybe, Blowhole knows about it. Anyway, sneak preview of the next chapter. Yay!

NEXT TIME: An old ally- and possibly an enemy- finally rears her head, and Private's allegiances are challenged more than they have ever been before. The path is clouded, and every step he will take is perilous, but it is a journey he must undertake. And on this mission... he cannot fail.


	7. How could you?

Me: Hello and welcome, readers who fell asleep with the computer switched on!

Skipper: ARE YOU GOING TO LET ME DOWN FROM HERE OR NOT!

Me: Well... Are you still angry?

Skipper: ANGRY? ANGRY? *coughs* No, I'm not angry at all. Now, could you please let me down?

Me:Hmm... I'd still rather not. You're a big tough military penguin, figure a way down on your own.*turns back to computer and continues to type*

Skipper:CENSORED!

Me:Anyway, where was I? Oh yes! As you can probably tell, Skipper is annoyed at his teammates for tying him up. Private learns of Kowalski's latest plan, and Rico... well, Rico just seems to want to blow stuff up. A lot. Anyway, what was it that Kowalski meant when he said Private wasn't going to like what he heard? Time to find out, I suppose.

DISCLAIMER: After this. I don't own the characters! There, are you happy now, Dreamworks/Nickelodeon? Yes? Well, that's fabulous, isn't it?

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"You're darn well right I don't like it! How can you just do... this!"

Kowalski sighed, and hung his head sadly. He had known that Private would react badly to the plan they had come up with.

"Private, please, calm down and let me explain-"

"SHUT UP!"

Kowalski never got the chance to "explain", as Private had given him a slap so hard that it echoed round the HQ, silencing even Skipper's angry yells. Kowalski slowly lifted his flipper to the side of his face that Private had slapped-and Private had slapped Kowalski so hard, though they didn't know it at the time, that the bruise would take several months to go away. Rico just sat there, with his mouth hanging open. After the sound finished revertabrating off the walls, he said "Wow."

"I... probably deserve a lot worse than that."

This little comment just about shocked the others into a coma-Kowalski had admitted to deserving punishment? Picking himself up off the floor, Kowalski dusted down his feathers, and looked as though he wanted Private to slap him again.

"W-what do you mean?"

"It was... it was me who suggested this plan."

"You? You, Kowalski? But, but, you always seemed to be the least inclined to violence out of us all. And then... to suggest that we had to... to kill Marlene to save ourselves? How... How could you even think of something like that?"

"I wasn't thinking right! It was just something I blurted out, a, a contingency plan, that was all! But, the more we thought about it... well, the more it seemed that this was the only way. And, much though I hate to say it, we need your help to carry out this plan."

Kowalski had, by this point, petered off and was staring very pointedly at the floor, avoiding everyone's gaze.

"How-how could you even think I'd help you with this? Kill Marlene? I'll never do something like that, no matter what anyone says to me! And Kowalski?"

Flinching at the harsh tone Private was now using, Kowalski meekly whispered "Yes, Private?"

"Sucks to your machine. I'm saving Marlene. But I'm saving her as an otter, not a penguin." And here Private regained that cold, military glare he could use so well to intimidate people. "I don't need to be a penguin, to be a commando. And Marlene doesn't either, Skipper. Puzzle that out. Should only take twenty years, at the speed your brain works at."

Having said what he wanted to say, Private walked out of the HQ, calmly and coldly. But that, as the others well knew, was when he was at his deadliest.

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A/N: Wow. Okay. Not quite sure what to make of Private or Kowalski anymore. On the one hand, I feel kinda sorry for Kowalski, cause he's upset about his idea actually been taken seriously(genii, go figure), since it might lead to the death of a good friend. On the other hand, Oh my god! Poor Private! What the heck were the others even thinking, agreeing with Kowalski's crazy idea? Still, Private not changing back to a penguin was a good thing in the end. It helped make this scene more dramatic, and who knows, it might even be used again in the future. Oh, yeah, one other thing. OUCH! I felt that slap, Private! Who knew such a small penguin could pack so much power, huh? Still, it's bound to be helpful later on. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up and running soon, but until then, enjoy the story so far.


	8. What have I done?

Me: Hello, I'm the Hunter. I write it so you don't have to. Yes, a little nod to the nostalgia critic there. Seriously, people, the nostalgia critic has an awesome website, and only the best of the best, or the worst of the worst get reviewed, with few exceptions. But enough of that. This entire chapter is going to be written from Kowalski's point of view- shock and horror, I know. Am I changing my style, you ask? No, I just think that a good author should be able to write in different styles.

Private: Hey, um, slight error in the last chapter. You said at the end, "who knew such a small _penguin_ could pack so much power". It should actually have been 'such a small otter'.

Me: Yeah, I know. I looked at it again, but, hey, I don't own any of these characters, and so I cannot take any form of responsibility for them. Ha! Take that, assorted editors! I combined conversation with Private and a disclaimer in one sentence. Anyway, let's see what the voices in my head tell me to write this time, shall we?

I waddled over to Skipper, and, feeling like I was lower than scum, untied him, bracing myself for the barrage of blows that would surely follow such rank insubordination. None came at me however, so I opened one eye a crack only to see, much to my relief, that Skipper was talking to Rico instead.

"Alright, Rico, weapons check! On the double, soldier!"

"Uh-huh!"

Rico then proceeded to barf up various objects- a chainsaw, two machetes, a blood-stained axe from Denmark(I still have nightmares about how it became bloodstained, but that's not important), a flamethrower, and roughly three dozen shurikens. Then he hacked up one more chainsaw-slightly more rusty, but still working perfectly. This was Rico's own personal chainsaw/weapon/toy/instrument of torture, and he had had it since he had been thirteen years old. A present from his also-psychopathic father, from what I could gather.

"Kowalski! Battle plans!"

"Um...plans for what battle, Skipper?"

"Don't be daft, man! You know the battle I mean. It was, after all, your idea, wasn't it?"

It dawned on me then and there which battle Skipper meant.

"B-b-but Sk-skipper! You can't kill Marlene! You can't!"

"Oh, Kowalski. I have no intention of killing Marlene."

"But, but..."

"It's your plan, isn't it? Only fair that you do the honours."

I fainted.

When I finally came to-roughly half an hour later, by the clock's standard- Skipper was deep in talk with Rico. From what I could tell, they were discussing this primordial destruction that had been some daft idea from my own head at one point- killing Marlene to ensure our continued safety. A few snatches of conversation drifted over, and I can tell you now, I didn't like what I heard.

"I'll take care of Private..." "make sure he..." "finish the job for him."

Rico nodded sadly, and looked over at me, sorrow in his eyes. His beautiful, shining eyes. Gah, what was I saying? He'd never like me like that, and anyway, I had to concentrate on saving both Marlene, and now, it seemed, Private, who- though I'd never admit it to his face- I actually thought was in the right this time. Even when he slapped me. I had been right. I had deserved worse for what I put him and everyone else through. I had deserved to be slapped a million times harder. My brain wasn't working properly anymore, and for the first time in my life, I realised what we were- what we always had been. Puppets. And Skipper was our puppeteer. He pulled the strings, made us do the motions. And when I'd accidentally on purpose turned Private into an otter, I'd freed him. I had cut his strings. Maybe it was time to deprive Skipper of one more puppet, take away another of his playthings. Because that's all we really were to our "commanding officer". Toys, things to be played with, then tossed away when he grew bored of us.

"Alright, then, Rico. Let's go do one quick check of the zoo, make sure nothing's out of place before we grab Kowalski and get going."

I held my breath, my mind imploring me to go after them and grab Rico, trying to save both of us. But I knew I wouldn't be able to, and so I stayed put, waiting till I could no longer hear their footsteps on the platform above the HQ. Once I was certain they were gone, I snuck out the base, and headed off. However, before I left, I felt an odd compulsion, willing me to head to the lemurs' habitat. _Is this my instincts kicking in?_ I pondered this on my way to the lemur habitat. Julien wasn't there, but Maurice was, and thank goodness for that. Trying to talk to Julien was like trying to talk to a brick wall. Actually, the wall might be more intelligent.

"Maurice!"

Maurice looked around frantically at first, and when he saw me, he actually jumped into the air. He jumped over that juice bar counter and didn't look out over the top of it. Why on earth was Maurice acting so jumpy today? Then the answer dawned on me. Skipper had anticipated this, so had somehow frightened Maurice into refusing to talk to me.

"Maurice? I know what Skipper said to you. But what I don't understand was what he threatened you with. Please, can't you just tell me that much?"

The lemur's head popped up from behind the counter, his eyes looking wildly around him, as though he expected Skipper to come flying through the air at him.

"It...it's not...not Skipper you need to worry about."

That was all he would say, before going back into hiding again.

"Wait! If it's not Skipper I need to worry about, then who? Maurice, I need to know! Is Marlene truly evil? Or has Blowhole just done something to her mind? Please, tell me!"

Maurice once again popped his head up and looked around, before beckoning me forward so he could say something. Leaning in, I listened intently, desperate to know who had Maurice so scared.

"It's Blowhole's boss."

Three words that turned my life around. Blowhole wasn't the head honcho. He was working for someone. Someone smarter even than he was. Someone who had managed to pull the wool over even Skipper's eyes. I realized it didn't matter what happened from then on. No matter how much Private bugged me, we needed his help. No. **We** didn't need his help. I did. My knowledge could only get me so far. I needed Private's help. And if I wanted his help, I needed to help him save Marlene. And to do that, I needed to cut the strings that Skipper had woven so tightly around my flippers. Because Skipper was going to try to kill Private and Marlene unless I saved them. But while I was stuck in my reverie, I hadn't noticed the two other penguins approaching me. Skipper grabbed one of my flippers, and Rico- reluctantly, that was a plus- grabbed the other.

"Well, well, Kowalski. I didn't realize you were alright. We'd have waited for you if we'd known. But no matter. It's time to get going. Are you ready?"

And it was then that I realized. Skipper might have bound me in his strings of lies and deceipt, but I could easily reverse the effect. I could cause Skipper's control over me to crumble, while playing along, pretending I was still under his control, still his pawn in this game of chess we were all playing. And then, it would be my turn to make a move. And that move would cause a checkmate. Whether it was handed to me or Skipper, well, that depended on the move I would make...

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Me: Wow, this is actually starting to get interesting! Who is Blowhole's mysterious 'boss'? Seriously, I haven't decided yet. Should have decided by the next chapter though,so that's that ready. In the meantime, Skipper is becoming slightly insane from his anger and-in his eyes- correct suspicions about Marlene. Private wasn't actually in this chapter, as I wanted to focus a bit more on Kowalski, and find out what he was going through. Poor guy's going through hell, it seems. His guilt is eating away at him, and he is becoming more and more paranoid. Could this be a part of Blowhole's plan? Or is it part of "The Master's" plan? That's what I'm going to refer to Blowhole's boss as from now on, by the way. The Master. Seems appropriate, don't you think? The master of Blowhole, the master of deception, and the master of evil, all rolled into one big package, becoming, "The Master". Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I should have the next one ready to go in a short while. Until then, keep watching the dolphins! No, seriously, watch the dolphins. They're getting a little too smart for my liking. Bye for now.


	9. The Master

Me: Hi again, everybody. Taking some time out of private study to write this. Thank God my school has a library, huh? Anyway, last chapter I showed you a small snippet of Kowalski's mind, and the thoughts racing through at a billion miles a second. Poor Kowalski is becoming increasingly paranoid, and there appears to be a bigger mastermind at work here. Also, where was Julien in the last chapter?

*Far-away, muffled screams of terror*

Me: Um... Did everyone else hear that, too?

Skipper: Roger that,compadre.

Rico: Uh-huh.

Kowalski: Most definitively. I cannot be sure, but I believe it was Julien. Also, WHY AM I CRAZY IN THIS STORY!

Me: And you need to ask? Anyway, who is this mysterious overlord of evil? Hey, that's pretty good. Maybe I'll use that in one of my other stories. Still, getting back to the task at hand. I don't own the penguins, lemurs, otters, or anyone else in this story. I do own the rights to Sonic, but that's another story.(I don't really.) And now, to the story. Oh, and this is back in the third person.

-

Private had managed to hide away in some kid's backpack, and was now on the subway to Coney Island(A/N: Don't know how you spell that, so I just went by what I heard.) Deciding it was time, and that he had travelled far enough in this bag that smelled like wet gym socks, Private unzipped the bag, padded out of it, and hid on one of the bars above the people's heads. Surprisingly, no-one noticed, and Private managed to get off the train at the right stop unimpeded. Sneaking into the shadows, his naturally dark fur blended in perfectly, and soon enough, he had snuck into Blowhole's base. Blowhole was nowhere to be seen, but Marlene was sat in front of a console, seemingly talking at length to an imaginary person.

Staying to the shadows, Private finally saw that Marlene was talking into a headset, and she kept referring to some person called 'The Master'. Deciding he had heard enough, Private raced towards Marlene, desperate to save her...

...And promptly got caught in a net. Blowhole must have left nets around Marlene, to prevent her from escaping or being rescued by someone. Marlene turned round to look at him, and the first Private noticed about was that her eyes seemed dull, like someone had breathed on two glass orbs, and then stuck them into Marlene's head. "_She's been hypnotised" _thought Private. Marlene smirked at the sight of him caught in the net.

"Lord Blowhole. We have an unidentified captive. It's an otter. Request orders."

"An otter? Not a penguin?"

"No, Lord Blowhole. Definitely an otter."

"Hmm... Wait there. I'm on my way down now."

And so Marlene ceased talking, and a stifling silence fell like a blanket, enveloping them. Finally working up the courage to do so, Private broke the silence.

"Marlene?"

Marlene immediately snapped her head round to the source of the noise, so fast that Private was scared it would snap in two.

"How do you know my code-name, otter?"

"Code-name! Marlene, this isn't who you are! It's just Blowhole manipulating you! Please, snap out of this!"

"I am not Marlene. My designation is Otter-1. I have always been Lord Blowhole's most faithful servant. I will continue to serve him faithfully."

Marlene spoke all this in the same dry monotone, just saying the lines as though someone had put them in her head- which, as Private knew only to well, someone had.

Private fidgeted nervously, trying to work out a way to save Marlene. She sounded like a robot- or worse still, a zombie. The thought of zombies brought to mind one night, three days after the incident with Kowalski and Private, when Marlene and Private were watching a horror movie. One of the zombies in the movie had suddenly lunged at the screen, and Marlene had jumped right into Private's arms. After that, the two of them decided it was best for Marlene's nerves if they didn't watch any more horror movies. Marlene hadn't been able to go to sleep that night, so Private brought over some blankets and pillows, and they had curled up on the sofa, and watched a couple of romantic movies instead of the horror movie. Secretly, Private wouldn't have minded watching another horror movie- he was used to horrifying things happening. But Marlene had been terrified, and so he had stepped over and changed the movie without objecting once. Though he didn't know it, that small action had earned him big points in Marlene's eyes.

But he didn't have anymore time to reminisce about the past- Blowhole had just arrived, with an escort of lobsters. Blowhole's hover-scooter floated over to where Private was caught in the net.

"Well, well. So the penguins didn't even have the guts to face me themselves this time, did they? They had to send someone else to fight in their place?"

"What? Oh, right! I doubt you would know."

"Know? Know what? And why do you sound like that weak little penguin, what's his name again? Oh yes, Private!"

"Oh? A 'weak little penguin', am I? Well, I am Private. Kowalski turned me into an otter by accident, and now I'm here, on my own, to save Marlene. And I won't stop trying to save Marlene till I've taken my last breath. Now, if you'll excuse me, Kowalski just arrived, and so I'm just going to get out of this trap, and then kick your butt and save Marlene! You got all that?"

Blowhole just stood there, silent as a statue. Meanwhile, Kowalski- who really was there, Private hadn't just been bluffing- had sliced through the ropes holding the net up. Helping Private to his feet, Kowalski leaned over and whispered to Private.

"Private, you've got to get Marlene and yourself to safety. Skipper is on his way, and he thinks you betrayed him, so he's planning to kill you and Marlene both. What's worse, is that Blowhole isn't the mastermind behind it this time. Blowhole works for someone else, Private. Someone so devious and clever that they've fooled everyone, even Skipper. You've got to get out of here now."

Private looked at Kowalski, dumbfounded. This was the same penguin he had fought with over every tiny detail for two years now? And yet Kowalski was still willing to help save Private and Marlene's lives.

"I'll repay you someday, Kowalski. Thank you so much."

"Don't worry. Just go."

"Well, well, well. What have we here? Mutiny, or loyalty. I really can't tell which it is. Tell me Kowalski. Have you ever worried that Skipper could be... beaten?"

"What do you mean! Who are you! Come out and show yourself! I refuse to talk to shadows, so either fight like a man, or release me and my friends!"

"Who am I? A good question, Kowalski. Perhaps you aren't going insane, as you believe. Your paranoia that Skipper was going to actually harm Marlene, even going so far as to kill her, was totally unfounded. Skipper was only saying that to force Private to get tough in order to protect the person he cares so much about. It would have worked perfectly, except that it was still my move. You were right about being a puppet, except it isn't Skipper pulling the strings. It was me, and still is. Every detail of your lives has been due to my influence. I have kept you safe, guided you to this point, so I can enjoy the festivities as you begin to turn on each other. Private becoming an otter was my design. I made sure of that flaw in your calculations. I made sure Skipper was so easily led. I made sure Rico couldn't talk, so he couldn't reveal who I was. I did everything. So who am I? Well, my name is most definitely your concern. My followers, however, call me...The Master."

-

Me: *Doctor Who theme plays over speakers* Wow. Skipper and his teammates have just been puppets to this guy their whole lives. That's gotta suck. Learning that the only reason you survived was because someone has molded you into a tool to be used, then tossed aside. That little twist was actually a last minute thing. I only thought it up while typing this chapter, but I think it adds a little more evil to this mysterious person's character.

Kowalski: Thank you for not making me crazy.

Me: Oh, hey Kowalski. Well, I could hardly have one of my favourite penguins turn crazy on me, could I?

Rico: Nuh-uh

Skipper: Hey, why am I not in this chapter?

Me: Relax, you're in the next one. Possibly. If you're a good little penguin.

Skipper: Don't patronise me. And why am I a puppet, huh?

Me: Because I felt like making you a puppet, that's why.*Hand puppets begin tap-dancing on stage* Not that kind of puppet, dumbass! One of those marrionette things. And don't forget, I could have 'The Master' kill you whenever I want. All I'd have to do is write it, and up the story's rating, that's literally all I'd have to do. So shut up.

Skipper: You're more stuck up than that ringtail.

Julien: Yeah, you're more stuck up than... Wait, what? I am not to be being stuck-up. So shut up.

Me: That's it! Mr. The Master?

The Master: Yes?

Me: Take care of these two *points to Skipper and Julien* And make it painful.

TM: My pleasure, Mr. Author, sir.

Me: Anyway, read the next chapter when it arrives. Maybe Private does something daring, I dunno, I haven't written it yet. But it will be good.


	10. The Master's Plan

Me: Hello, everyone! Welcome back, to chapter... wait, what chapter am I on now?

Private: Ten.

Me: Chapter ten it is, then. Thank you, Private.

Private: You're welcome. But could you tell me... what happens at the end? Or at least who 'The Master' is? Please?

Me: Hmm. Alright, I'll tell you something. The Master is not Julien.

Private/Kowalski/Skipper: What?

Private: But... he was the most obvious choice this time! He vanished without a trace, and now Maurice is terrified of someone. He was obviously the villian!

Me: Well, he's not. So shut up and get used to it. Anyway, people, I don't own the rights to this show, or any other show(except Family Guy), so that's that. On with the story!

A figure stepped out of the shadows, dragging three hideously scarred forms behind him. At least, Private thought it was a him. The animal walked like a male, anyway. It wasn't until one of the forms that were being dragged along in chains moaned that Private realized who they were. The three animals that had been tied up were Skipper, Rico, and Julien! But Kowalski and Private were more focused on the figure dragging the others. It was a lemur, and not only that, but a ringtail lemur that looked almost identical to King Julien.

"My name is King Julien the fourteenth, successor to the throne of Madagascar and all of my father's lands. Isn't that right, Dad?"

When he said this, he kicked Julien's prone form so violently that the poor lemur flew forward a tiny bit.

"No. It is not your right yet! You wil only inherit my throne from me when I die!"

"Well," said Julien's son, leaning in close, "perhaps I could help speed up the process of your death, hmm?"

Julien gulped. "Eh, why don't we both just forget I said anything, hmm?"

The younger lemur looked up. "Sorry? Oh, I didn't hear you there, I was too busy sharpening my knife. And it is thirsty indeed. It says to me, 'Julien XIV, give me a feast of your father's blood.' And I hate to displease it. So sorry. But look on the bright side. It'll be over soon. Not too soon, of course. Wouldn't want you not to feel the pain of death, to be able to watch as you slowly fade away. And then? Well, then I have two other new toys to play with, don't I?" He asked this while fixing his gaze firmly on Skipper and Rico, who visibly shrank back from his gaze.

Private and Kowalski could only watch on in horror as Julien XIV finished sharpening his knife, and picked his father up off the ground. Marlene just stood there, eyes dull, unresponsive. And then, at the very last moment, Julien XIV pulled the knife away from his father's throat.

"But first, I must 'reward' Dr Blowhole for his assistance in capturing the only two who tried to excercise free will. Oh, Chromey!"

And at the sound of the whistle around Julien XIV's neck being blown, two of the gigantic mutations known as 'Chrome Claw' sprang forth.

"Give the good doctor his 'reward', my dears."

Scuttling forward on their hideous legs, the two mutated lobsters picked Blowhole up and began trying to pull him apart, one gripping his nose and mouth, while the other one grabbed his tail.

"What? W-w-wait! You said you would leave me alone if I helped you capture them all. You promised me my freedom!"

"Yes, well, can't have any loose ends, now, can we? So sorry. If it's any consolation, your greatest enemies will die soon too. From Skipper, to Kowalski, to Rico, to that lovestruck fool, Pri- Wait, where's Private? Where's he gone, dammit?"

"Sorry to ruin your party, Junior, but my 'free will' was far greater than you thought!"

"What? Where are you? Show yourself, damn you!"

"I'm up here."

Everyone looked towards the sound of Private's voice, even Marlene, who was still in her zombified state. Private was standing on one of the high walkways, holding a detonator.

"Say please, Blowhole, and I'll save you."

"Yes, please, please, anything you want, just save me, please!"

"Heh. Guess I'll keep my word then. 'Cause I do."

Jumping down to ground level, Private held up the detonator so that everyone could see it.

"Now, Private, you have to learn not to excercise free will anymore. You are only alive right now because I have willed it. But my aegis shall be yours no longer, should you push that button."

"Well, then, to hell with your aegis, or shield, or whatever you call it! I live because I am strong enough to stay alive, not because some madman says he wants me alive. Word of advice for you; never keep me alive, cause I'm your worst nightmare. And I'll do whatever it takes to stop you from hurting Marlene, or Skipper, or anyone anymore. To hell with you!" Private pushed the button, and four explosions resounded throughout the cavernous room, as two of the walkways slammed into the giant lobsters, crushing them both instantly. This was too much for Julien XIV, who flew into an irrational rage, and threw the knife he was holding at Private, drawing another one as he did so.

"Private!"

The knife thudded home. But not into Private's body- into Kowalski's. The tallest penguin just lay there, staring up at the roof of the cavern, the knife resting between his ribs.

"Kowalski! No!"

This was it. The final straw. Nothing else could possibly happen that could be worse than this. One of Private's closest and dearest friends-indeed, they were more like brothers than comrades- was lying in front of him, his life force flowing out of him. Julien XIV just stood there, unfazed, before casually throwing the second knife at Marlene and drawing a third one. Private could see where the knife was aimed, and he knew that he couldn't possibly save everyone.

"No-one else gets hurt today!" He yelled, before throwing himself at Marlene, knocking both of them out of the way of the knife's deadly path. Instead, it landed harmlessly on the floor. Private looked over at Marlene to check she was alright- even if she had been hypnotised, he still loved her more than anything in the world- and noticed immediately that her eyes had returned to their normal state. Apparently the shock of nearly being killed had destroyed the hypnotism's hold on her, and she was in control of her mind again.

"Private? Wh-what am I doing here? This isn't my usual cave. What's happening?"

"Marlene." Prvate suddenly leaned in and hugged her, fearing that if he let go, she might vanish. Finally, he let go of her, and she just looked at him, dumbfounded. "You're in... Blowhole's hideout, Marlene. Julien's son has stabbed Kowalski, tried to kill Blowhole and you, and beaten Skipper, Rico and Julien to within an inch of their lives."

This information seemed to be too much for Marlene to take in all at once, so she simply muthed, "Uhh?"

"And now," Private continued, turning round and picking up the knife, holding it like a sword in front of him, "it's time that the 'Prince' was deposed!"

With those words, Private ran forwards, lunging with the knife at Julien XIV's throat, determined to do whatever it took to stop him. Julien's son just smirked, and held his own knife leisurely, batting away Private's flurry of slashes as though he were conducting an orchestra. Every motion he made was fluid, like he was dancing while fighting. When Private realised his attacks weren't even tiring the prince out slightly, he jumped back, collecting his thoughts, trying to find a weakness in his opponent's defence.

"Are you quite done waving that thing around now, my dear Private? I told you, you penguins and your friends only survived because I willed it. You do not stand a chance against me. I am invincible!"

"Oh yeah? Prove it!"

Julien XIV just laughed at this, and launched into a rapid flurry of blows directed at Private that came at him so fast, he barely managed to block them. Private found himself constantly having to jump back, duck, or jump over the blade that was barely visible to him. Marlene and the others watched the two go back and forth, back and forth, over and over again, before realising that Private had told her that Kowalski had been stabbed. She knew a little first-aid, and so decided to make herself useful by helping Kowalski. When she made it over to the penguin, though, he was nearly beyond helping. The pool of blood around him was already beginning to congeal, and Kowalski was barely conscious, let alone alive. Sliding the knife out, Marlene was relieved and scared to see that no more blood flowed from the wound- either because the blood had clotted around the wound, or because there wasn't much blood left to bleed. For Kowalsi's sake, Marlene hoped it was the first option. Throwing the knife to one side, she began to apply pressure to the tall penguin's wound, hoping to try and keep him conscious at least. That way, he would have a chance of staying alive.

Private, meanwhile, was continuing his deadly dance with the prince of Madagascar. The two weapons clashed, and their mammalian wielders snarled at each other. Now and then a spark would fly off of the knives. But Private was clearly outmatched while fighting with only one weapon. Julien XIV finally struck a blow that knocked the knife out of Private's paw, and knocked Private to the ground. The lemur prince advanced on what he considered his prey, weapon held high for a killing blow.

"First you, Private, and then? Everyone who refuses to accept me as king! Now, DIE!"

The knife swung down, and Private, in his desperation, grabbed the nearest object and held it in front of him. A resounding clash of metal rang out in the cavern, and Private opened one eye slightly. In his frantic struggle, it seemed he had grabbed the knife from Kowalski's body, and it was now held in front of him, defending him from the insane prince's own blade. Realizing that he had a chance at victory, or at least survival, Private summoned his strength, and kicked Julien XIV with all his might, sending the mad lemur tumbling backwards. While the lemur was trying to get up again, Private rolled over and grabbed the knife he had dropped earlier.

"Ugh. That does it! I'm going to enjoy killing you, Private! Time to die!"

"You're not going to kill ayone, ever again! No-one dies today!"

Private dashed towards the lemur prince, and swung the two blades in an uppercut motion, which was easily blocked, before launching into a dual-weapon flurry, not letting the prince rest for a second. But to everyone, it looked like Private was merely stalling. But stalling for what? Skipper was the first to realize what Private intended. He wanted them to blow the supports, and bring the base down around their heads.

"R-i-co."

Tilting his head, the scarred penguin with a taste for destruction looked at his leader inquisitively.

"Blow... the supports. Bring... base down. Escape."

Rico nodded, before regurgitating a bomb, and rolling it over to Marlene. Private was still distracting the prince, so it went unnoticed. Another bomb followed the first, then a third and a fourth. Marlene looked at the bombs, then at Rico and Skipper, the latter of which weakly pointed out the four giant support pillars holding the roof up. Marlene nodded, before getting Blowhole to help move everyone else to safety. Blowhole, of course, was only too happy to repay Private in any way possible for saving him, and set to work moving Skipper and the now-unconscious Julien XIII out of the base. Marlene moved Kowalski and Rico-taking special care not to hurt Kowalski too much while moving him- and Rico agreed to make sure Kowalski was safe while she blew out the supports. When she got back into the base, however, things weren't going as well as they had been when she left. Moving swiftly, she set all of Rico's time-delay dynamite, before signalling to Private that he had twenty seconds. She activated the timers, and waited by the doorway for Private.

Private, however, was having a difficult time. Julien XIV seemed to be noticing that something was missing from the base, and as he grew more worried, he grew more dangerous. _So this is what Skipper meant by 'A cornered beast is always the most dangerous'._ Private thought to himself as he ducked and slashed, slashed and ducked, and repeated the pattern. Finally, with fifteen seconds to spare, Private managed to shove the insane lemur off of him, and run for the exit. Unfortunately, his foe had seen the bombs only a few short seconds after he had shoved him away. Nine seconds were left on the timers, and Private was still halfway across the room from the doorway. The good thing was, he was out of Julien XIV's range. The bad news was, he couldn't belly-slide to safety, and so had to run across the room. The worse news was, Julien XIV could probably run faster than him. The one piece of good news was that the lemur seemed too distracted by the bombs to do anything. Four seconds left. Private kept running. He was almost to the door now. It was sliding shut, but he could still roll under it in time. With two seconds to spare, Private rolled himself under the door and into the safe zone. He could hear the prince howling in anger, and figured that he had just seen the door close and lock. Marlene was already halfway down the hallway by the time Private caught up to her. While still running, he asked where the others were. Not even slowing down, Marlene replied that Blowhole had used a secret passage into the zoo, which was where she was heading now. The explosion behind them hadn't even fazed them. They made it to the tunnel, and back into the zoo, where they headed straight for the penguin habitat.

When they arrived, they found that Blowhole had managed to get Skipper and Rico to go to sleep- not difficult, given they were almost dead anyway- and was now treating Kowalski, who was still awake, as was obvious from the occasional obscenities that fell from his mouth when Blowhole accidentally touched a sore part of the wound. Blowhole turned round to pick up some form of bandage, and noticed Marlene and Private.

"Oh, Marlene, Private. I didn't know you were here. Before I say anything, let me just thank you from the bottom of my heart, Private, for saving my life."

"It...it was really, honestly nothing, Blowhole. And the fact that you're helping my friends is thanks enough."

"Are you sure? It's just, after all I put you through, you're just going to... forgive me? Just like that?"

"Of course. Forgive and forget. And you've helped us out a great deal here, so I can forgive you."

"I... thank you, Private. Anyway, Skipper, Rico, and that other lemur that we brought back are sleeping soundly, not surprising given what they've been through, and Kowalski's wound is no longer life-threatening."

At this, Kowalski tried to sit up, bashed his head on the bunk above his, and swore.

"Easy for you to say, Blowhole! You aren't the one with the hole in his chest!"

"Kowalski, calm down. Over-exciting yourself could cause the wound to start bleeding again. Now, try and get some sleep, okay?"

Kowalski lay down again, mumbling to himself, yet really feeling very grateful to Blowhole, Private, and Marlene, for having saved his life.

"Well, Blowhole, I'm going to take Marlene back to her habitat now. I think she could use some rest after...today's events."

"Of course, Private. If you need anything, I'll be here with the others, making sure nothing happens to them."

Private responded saying that he would let Blowhole know if something was wrong with Marlene, before he and Marlene headed over to the otter habitat to try and get some sleep.

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Me: Wow! Finally, Private has stopped The Master, or as we now know him, Julien the Fourteenth, King Julien's son. Who would have thought a mildly annoying lemur could have had a psychotic criminal mastermind for a son, eh? Go figure. Anyway, Blowhole is now a good guy-yay!-Kowalski isn't going to die-even bigger yay!- and Julien XIV has been defeated forever- I hope. Anyway, still one more chapter, and then this story will be finished! Hallelujah! But seriously, this has been a fun story to write, and most, if not all, of the feedback has been positive. Yay! I wrote a good story!

Kowalski: Thank you for not killing me off at the end there.

Me: Of course I couldn't kill you off. I need you to play a central role in another story, set a year after this one. It'll be a romance story, but without all this adventure. Who will the romance be centred on? Not telling anything other than that it isn't a Marlene/Private focus this time. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and look forward to the next chapter! THE END IS NIGH! In a good way!


	11. Epilogue

Me: Yay! This story is finally finished! Well, technically it's not finished yet, but this is the final chapter- a sort of epilogue, if you want to give it a name.

Private: Hey, umm... Not wanting to moan, but what happens between me and Marlene in this chapter?

Me: Wait and see, little Private. After all, this is the final chapter, so everything will be resolved. Hopefully. Anyway, evryone knows the disclaimer, or should, so I'm going to just skip ahead to the story.

Private: One other thing, mister whoever-you-are. In the last chapter, you lied to people. You told them you owned the rights to something.

Me: Oh yes, that. Well, as you can probably tell, I don't own the rights to any shows that have been made yet. Still trying to get Nickelodeon to cut me a deal on the Penguins of Madagascar, but so far all I've recieved are random letters from Hitler, the Pope, and Barack Obama. I don't understand it any better than you, so let's just read the story, eh?

It had been three days since Private had defeated Julien's son, and things were only just beginning to calm down at the zoo now. Kowalski had recovered from his wound on the second day, and was now playing nursemaid to Skipper and Rico. Julien had been returned to his 'kingdom', and was back to boasting about how he had never once showed any signs of weakness, even in the face of death. Mort swallowed every lie Julien made up, but Maurice knew better than that. Private gave him the full version of the story, and Maurice seemed to know all about Julien's injuries, and why they were so specific. Apparently, every wound Julien's son had inflicted on his father was symbolic to him. Private then compared it to a Satanic ritual, and while Maurice pulled a face at that one, he agreed with Private.

Blowhole was now living in the dolphin habitat, with his new best friend, Doris. She had taken a liking to him, and soon they became inseperable. Private had hacked into the computer systems, with some help from Kowalski, and changed the records to show that Blowhole was a permanent transfer from another zoo.

Marlene was, at Private's request, still in bed, recovering, even though her wounds-what few of them there were- were long since gone, and she felt fine. Private, however, insisted she stayed in bed and recovered. Today, as it happened, Marlene had insisted that she be allowed to get up and strecth her legs a bit, before 'the boredom drove her mad'. Private had eventually relented, with the promise that if Marlene felt the least bit unwell, she would let him know immediately. After promising him, and assuring him that Maurice would know how to help if she was ill, she set off towards the lemur habitat, thinking to herself how nice it felt to have someone around that really, honestly cared deeply about her wellbeing. Private, meanwhile headed over to the penguin habitat to see how the others were. Kowalski greeted Private enthusiastically, informing him that Skipper and Rico were 'well on their way to recovery'. Private relaxed at this, then asked if Kowalski wanted help with anything.

"Well, Private, I don't want to be a pest, but..."

"What is it, Kowalski?"

"Will you have a game of chess with me? This unintellectual job of being a nurse is driving me insane!"

Private burst out laughing, and didn't stop for about ten minutes, after which time he agreed to have a few games of chess with Kowalski, to stop the smart penguins brain from melting.

Over in the lemur habitat, Maurice was smiling, though Marlene couldn't understand why. When she asked, all he would say was, "I know what you're going to ask."

"O...kay. Anyway, Maurice, I came over here because I need advice. I was going to come and see you sooner, but I got captured, and hypnotised, and then Private wouldn't let me out of our habitat until today. What I wanted to ask was-"

"You realize you just called the otter habitat 'our habitat', don't you, Marlene?"

"Huh? Well, I guess having Private around for so long has made me come to think of it as being a shared habitat. Anyway-"

"You're having feelings towards Private and you wanted my advice."

"Uh... yeah. How'd you guess?"

"Because Private asked me for help about the same thing, with the names reversed, that's why, Marlene."

"Wait, then?"

"Yep. Marlene, Private is wrestling with himself over whether to choose you or his family. You have to help him. Skipper knows that you can go commando- he was there when you blew up the base, for crying out loud. If that won't convince him to let you join the team, nothing will. And if you can't join the team, you have to find a way to make it so Private can be with both you and his family. He loves you, Marlene. But he loves his family, too. You can help him where I can't. So go help him. For both your sakes."

Marlene had sat down while Maurice had been saying this, and was now sitting at the juice bar counter, with her mouth hanging open slightly. After a couple of minutes, she nodded slightly, and headed towards the penguin habitat. Maurice stood and watched her go, an unreadable expression on his face. Then Mort flew over his head and landed near a wall, accompanied by Julien's usual cry of "Off de feet!". The older lemur sighed, and went back to cleaning the habitat.

Private was suffering his fifteenth defeat in a row to Kowalski, who was apparently now fine- his mind was as sharp as ever, at least- when Marlene walked in. Skipper lifted his head off the pillow to see who it was, and started to yell at Julien, before realizing who had actually walked through the door.

"Oh, Marlene. House arrest lifted, then?"

Marlene had to laugh at the penguin leader's sense of humour. Even after a near-death experience, the bird had the audacity to make bad jokes aplenty.

"Yeah, I was let out early for good behaviour. I came over to ask you something, Skipper."

"Well, I owe you, Private and Kowalski my life, so ask away, Marlene."

Marlene took a deep breath, and steeled herself.

"I want to join the team, Skipper."

Marlene had been steeling herself for a barrage of questions, maybe even Rico coughing up a grenade or two, but not the silence which greeted her words. Kowalski and Private looked at her, Rico opened one eye lazily before sitting up, and Skipper... actually looked like he was considering it. Marlene had expected to have had to argue with him for close to an hour, but he was actually considering it.

"Is that alright?"

"Marlene, are you sure?"

Private had been the first to speak for once. Marlene turned to face him, and she could see the worry evident in his eyes, obviously worried that she might get hurt.

"I'm more sure of this than anything else, Private. Well, except one thing."

Skipper butted in here, apparently having made his decision.

"Marlene, before I give you my answer, I have to know. If I said yes, you would be in danger every mission we went on. Do you think you could handle that?"

"If I didn't, would I even be asking, Skipper? Of course I could handle that. In case you hadn't noticed, I coped fine the last time I went up against danger, and you didn't do so well, now did you?"

"Irrelevant. But... if you're sure, then I'd be more than happy to let you join the team. Only if you're sure, though."

"I'm sure, Skipper."

Turning to face Private, Marlene had to laugh. The penguin-turned-otter was apparently unable to decide whether to be proud of Marlene, or worried about her, and so had settled on a mixture of the two, making him look like he had toothache.

"There you go, Private. Me and your family, combined. Just what you were hoping to find a way to do, isn't it?"

"W-what? Wait, what do you mean?"

"I spoke to Maurice, Private. I know."

Private had turned so pale that it could be seen through his fur. "S-spoke to him about what?"

"About this, Private." And with that, Marlene wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. The other three all stared on in shock as the two otters deepened the kiss, becoming a little more passionate about it. When the two finally broke away, Skipper broke the silence.

"Rico, you owe me five bucks."

"Aww..."

Marlene and Private both turned to look at the two.

"What do you mean by that, Skipper?"

"Well, Private, me and Rico had a bet going. I bet Rico five bucks that you two did like each other, and he bet against that. I won. And I guess you did too, Private."

"I guess I did, Skipper."

Kowalski finally threw in his two cents worth.

"Do I take it the answer is no, then, Private?"

"What answer, Kowalski?"

"Oh, did I not tell you? The DNA manipulator is ready. It's been fine-tuned, and is ready to go. But I assume you won't want to use it now?"

Private looked at Marlene, then turned back to Kowalski and his fellow team-mates, smiling.

"You're right, Kowalski. The answer is no. I'm staying an otter. Permanently."

"Very well, Private."

Rico clapped his flippers, making some sot of ecstatic yelling noise.

"You know, Private, that just because you're staying as an otter, doesn't mean I'm letting you or Marlene slack off. You'll both be training just as much as us."

Private looked around him, at Marlene and his team-mates.

"You know, everyone, I'd been asking myself. If I couldn't find a way to bring the team and Marlene together, how could I choose between them? But I guess, now I don't have to. I've got both together."

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Me: Argh! The cuteness! It's killing me! *Rico rolls on floor, choking* Oh, and Rico! Seriously, people, the cuteness of this last chapter is almost unbearable for me. Seems that this little romance was destined to have an incredibly fluffy ending to it. The last line might seem like overkill, but I wanted to find a way to tie the ending into the title somehow. Unfortunately, there was no way to do that without driving the fluffiness of this story to critical levels.

Private: Thank you for letting me and Marlene be together at the end of this, Mr Author.

Me: You're welcome, Private. I just hope that other romance stories I write don't turn into something softer and fluffier than the world's largest rabbit.

Marlene: What's wrong with rabbits? Rabbits are cute.

Me: That's what's wrong with them! I don't want some overly cutesy story. I want something filled with explosions, and fighting!

Everyone(bar Rico): You're worse than Rico!

Rico: Huh?

Me: Oh, you're all just jealous, 'cause I'm able to write stories abot you guys, and you don't even know who I am. Ha ha! Anyway, now that this story is finished, I'm going to be concentrating on finishing my other stories. Howver, I do take requests, so if you hav a particular pairing you want to see, or even a particular plot about one character, just PM me and I'll try to work it into my schedule. Until next time, people!


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